IRREGULARITES, LOW VOTERS TURNOUT MAR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION IN NIGERIA'S MAIN OIL STATE

The march 29th,2008 local government election in Rivers State, Nigeria's main oil State have been substantially marred by large scale irregularities and low voters turnout.

Our reporter who went round most of the local government Areas of the State reports that in most of the polling booths, election officials were seen siting idle with no voters in sight hours after voting was supposed to have commenced.This situation was more pronounced in Portharcourt city council Area, Obio-Akpor and Ikwerre local government Areas. The governor of the State, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is from Ikwerre local government Area.

In other local government areas visited like Akuku-toru, Ogba-egbema-ndoni, Okirika and Ogu-bolo local government Areas, Policemen and men of the joint taskforce(JTF) were seen in some polling booths directing the few voters arround on whom to vote for, usually, the Peoples' Democratic Party(PDP) candidates.

At Ikuru town in Andoni local government Area, home of the State deputy governor, Mr. Tele Ikuru, youths with bloodshot eyes, wielding cutlasses and broken bottles were seen brazenly ordering the few voters arround to vote for PDP candidates, while policemen and civil defence personnels on duty sat unconcerned drinking beer and other alcoholic beverages.

In areas where voters turn out was comparatively high like Bonny,Emohua,Omuna and Eleme local government Areas,most could not vote either because of late arrival of election officials and/or materials or due to the fact that their names were not found in the voters list.

A middle level official of Rivers State independent electoral commission(RSIEC),who spoke to us on condition of anonymity said that "These factors are enough to cancel this election".

NIGERIA'S FORMER ANTI-CORRUPTION CHIEF AND RECENT FRAUDS IN POWER SECTOR

Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, erstwhile Executive Chairman of Economic And Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC),who is undergoing a one-year-course in strategic studies at the prestigious Nigerian institute of Policy and Strategic studies(NIPSS),during his tenure at the anti-corruption Agency almost convinced everybody that he was an incorruptible anti-corruption crusader.

The recent probe of the NATIONAL INTERGRATED POWER PROJECT(NIPP)by the Federal House of Representatives, which have so far uncovered frauds totalling thirteen billion US dollars has however, put a lie to Mr. Ribadu's anti-corruption pontifications.The IPP fraud happened during Ribadu's tenure at EFCC.

Inside sources in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC)and Nigeria Customs Service(NCS)told us that if the operations of these organizations during same period are probed, the NIPP frauds will pale into insignificance.

TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD DAMSEL BOMBS NAVAL JETTY IN NIGERIA

The fire that razed down a jetty of the Nigerian Navy in the Niger Delta Area recently may be as a result of explosives planted in the jetty by a twenty –three- year –old lady of Ijaw ethnic stock.

The lady whose name was given as Askiye from Bayelsa state is a frequent visitor to the jetty especially on weekends when she and other girls from the riverine areas go to naval and other locations in search of fun.Askiye and her friends we gathered were usually brought into such locations by professional pimps.

Our source revealed that in the case of Askiye, most naval officers liked her because of her beauty and brilliance. She, according to our source is not attached to any officer, but goes with any who can afford to pay for the fun.

The beautiful Ijaw damsel have often been seen in the company of a British explosives expert named Steve, a mercenary on the payroll of MOVEMENT FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF NIGER DELTA(MEND).

Hours preceding the blast, our source continued, Askiye was sighted at the jetty carousing with naval officers, but disappeared a few minutes before the blast.

It will be recalled that fire from a blast destroyed a Nigerian Naval jetty on the early hours of Friday 21st March, 2008, in which some Naval personnels lost their lifes and some gunboats destroyed.

MEND claimed responsibility for the fire. Naval authorities however, denied sabotage and blamed the fire on faulty electrical circuit.

ABIA STATE OF NIGERIA; GOVERNORSHIP BATTLE MOVES TO NEWS MEDIA

The former Governor of Abia State,one of the oil producing states in Nigeria, Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu, who is also the chairman of board of trustees of Progressive Peoples Alliance(PPA), one of the numerous registered Political Parties in Nigeria, believed to have been financed by Mr. Kalu, has moved the governorship battle in the impoverished state to the news Media.

Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu was elected Governor of the state in 1999 and again in 2003 for a second tenure on the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Mr. Kalu however, fell out with the then leader of the Party and President of the country, Rtd. General Olusegun Obasanjo, resulting in Kalu leaving PDP to form PPA in 2006, which he used as a platform to contest for President in the April 2007 general elections.

For the Abia State gubernatorial election, PPA fielded Kalu's erstwhile Chief of Staff, Mr. Theodore Orji against PDP'S Mr. Onyema Ugochukwu.The PPA's candidate was declared winner and the PDP's candidate forwarded a petition to the Abia State governorship election petition tribunal for the nullification of the election. The election of the PPA candidate was eventually nullified and the candidate of the PDP declared winner.The PPA candidate appealed the judgement.

Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu, apprehensive of the lost of the State in the event of the Appeal Court, being the final arbiter in governorship election matters upholding the judgement of the tribunal and its implications on his current corruption trial and his political career generally, have according to sources close to the former Governor, mobilized some news Media Editors with huge sums of money to influence public opinion on the side of his Party's candidate, the objective being to influence the Appeal court judges in favour of the PPA candidate. The Kalu strategists, who are senior Editors in the tabloid published by Kalu, according to sources, believe that if public opinion is in favour of the PPA candidate, the Appeal court judges will be in favour of upholding his election in the interest of peace and stability, a la Yar'Adua vs Atiku and Buhari.

Mr. Kalu is the Publsher of the SUN newspapers, which are very successful publications in Nigeria, this makes him a very influential person amongst local news Media Editors.

It is expected that in the days and weeks preceeding the commencement of hearing of the Appeal, some local news Media will tilt reports on the matter in favour of Mr.Kalu's candidate.

NIGERIAN PRESIDENT UPSTAGES IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT AT RULING PARTY CONFAB

The Nigerian President, Mr. Umaru Yar'Adua whose election in April,2007 was recently validated by the Presidential election petition tribunal, yesterday afternoon(08/03/2008) at the eagle square Abuja, during the emergency national convention of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP)upstaged the immediate past President, Rtd. General Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also the Party's chairman of board of trustees in what observers agreed was superior political horsetrading and jerrymandering.

Rtd. General Obasanjo at the twilight of his administration, masterminded the amendment of his Party's constitution to pave way for his occupation of the position of chairman of the Party's influential board of trustees, in a move widely seen as part of his elaborate plans to control the Party's apparatus at the national level. Prior to that time, the outgoing President had chosen the current President, generally seen as weak and incapable of holding his grounds in any face-off with the swash-buckling Rtd. General as his Party's Presidential candidate for the 2007 general elections.

At the exit of former President Obasanjo from the seat of power, forces intent on snatching the machinery of the ruling party massed against him, intending to use the instrumentality of the emergency national convention to snatch the Party's national apparachik from the former President.

While these intrigues were on, the Obasanjo camp was also plotting its own intrigues, but the surprise was that the current President's camp seemed quiet and was most of the time pretending to be with the former President's camp.

We were hinted but could not independently confirm clandestine moves in the President's camp, being co-ordinated by the ever resourcesful and secretive Secreatary to the Federal Government, Mr. Babagana Kingibe, which aimed at installing the President's candidate as Chairman of the ruling Party.

We can now report that while the intrigues, horsetradings and jerrymanderings were going on, the President's camp, pretending to be with the Obasanjo camp, which had Mr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu as its main candidate, was secretly preparing Mr. Vincent Ogbulafor, a former national Secreatary of the party, who fell out with Obasanjo when the latter refused to support him in his bid to become the governor of Abia State in 2007, for the National Chairmanship position.

The Yar'Adua camp played the game closed to their chest till the last minute when the President suddenly rejected Obasanjo's plea for a consensus candidate in the person of Mr. Iwuanyanwu and subsequently used the influence of his office to pressurize the Governors, some members of the National Assembly and Federal Government Appointees to support Mr. Ogbulafor, while at the same time also pressurizing majority of the contestants to step down for his annointed candidate.

A Presidency source who spoke to us shortly after Mr. Ogbulafor was sworn in, revealed that the presidency was in celebration mood. A source very close to Obasanjo also told us that the former President was not happy at the turn of events, but has however, resolved to work with the new National Chairman.

NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT, OIL AND GAS MAJORS COMMENCE DEMOLITION OF HENRY OKAH'S FREEDOM FIGHTER IMAGE

The federal government of Nigeria and their oil and gas major contractors namely: SHELL,CHEVRON, ELF, AGIP and MOBIL have commenced demolition of the freedom fighter image of Mr. Henry Okah, the detained leader of the MOVEMENT FOR THE EMMANCIPATION OF NIGER DELTA(MEND), constructed by the MEND makeshift publicity machinary.

The Henry Okah freedom fighter image demolition project is being financed by the public affairs division of NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION(NNPC), with hefty financial contributions from the oil and gas major contractors and being co-ordinated by the chief publicist to the Nigerian President, Mr. olusegun Adeniyi and an African-American male staffer of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA embassy in Abuja. We have not been to get the name of the African-American so far.

We got a tip-off and commenced discreet investigations on information that Mr. Adeniyi was holding secret meetings with some Editors of news media, with the aim of enlisting them into the Henry Okah project. We can now report that the meetings has been concluded and huge amounts running into millions of Naira paid to these Editors for the project.

We learnt on good authority that the presidency and the oil and gas majors were worried at how Mr. Okah whom they regard as a terrorist or at best a common criminal was being set up by his organization as an innocent businessman who hates injustice and consequently decided to assist freedom fighters in his IJAW ethnic homeland. The fear is that this type of image if not demolished will unleash an avalanche of agitations by international human rights organizations for the unconditional release of the MEND chieftain.

We were further informed that the scheme was tested when some print news media published a photograph of a man of Henry Okah's height and body built, face covered with hood, strapped with assault rifle and its accesories. The photograph was presented as that of Okah on the battle frontline. The publication, sources inside MEND told us, eroded to a very significant extent, efforts made by the body so far to enlist key international human rights organizations in the free Henry Okah campaign.

It is expected that there will be a frenzy of anti-Henry Okah/MEND subtle propaganda in some mainstream news media in Nigeria in the coming weeks and months.

EMMANUEL IWUANYANWU MAY EMERGE COMPROMISE CANDIDATE IN NIGERIA'S RULING PARTY CONVENTION

Indications are strong that Mr.Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a member of board of trustees of Nigeria's ruling party,the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and a national chairmanship aspirant, may emerge the compromise candidate at the oncoming national convention of the Party.

The PDP had zoned the positions of Deputy Senate President and Party national chairman to the South-east geo-political zone of the country. The South-east zonal caucus of the Party subsequently zoned the Chairmanship position to Imo and Ebonyi states. Iwuanyanwu is from Imo state.

The strategy of narowing the choice of National Chairman to members from Imo and Ebonyi states is the brainchld of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chairman of board of trustees of the Party, who according to one of our PDP inside sources has sworn to continue to control the Party's machinary at the national level.

Mr. Obasanjo, according to this source had everything worked out from the begining with the last exco. The plan was for Dr. Sam Egwu, former Governor of Ebonyi state and a respected political figure in the South-east to be presented earlier as a candidate of the Obasanjo group to test the waters and to divert attention, while Iwuanyanwu, the main candidate of the group will be presented later as compromise candidate.

Obasanjo who knows the political behaviour of South-easterners, knew from the onset that the contest will be a crowded affair,that will necesitate a compromise candidate, the source further revealed.

For about three weeks now, Obasanjo's men in the Presidency, we were told, have been persuading President Yar'Adua to accept Iwuanyanwu as a compromise candidate.A Presidency source told us that "a security report have even surfaced". The security report was said to have characterized all the contestants with the exception of Iwuanyanwu and Egwu as unrepantant apostles of Igbo Presidency, who as national Chairman of the Party will likely truncate any second term bid by the incumbent President, if Yar'Adua is convinced, the Presidency will use its influence to pressurize the other contestants to step down, meanwhile,we can now report that the recent media reports in which it was reported that the other candidates had rejected the idea of a consensus(compromise) candidate was only a strategy to raise the bargaining stakes, when the time comes.

The PDP national convention where the National chairman and other national executive members will emerge, barring any unforeseen developments, will hold on 8th March, 2008 at the Eagle square in Abuja.

When our reporter visited the party's national secreatariate at about 12.15pm on friday, 29th february 2008, we were told that no national officer was available to take our questions. A female staffer whom our reporter made efforts to speak with, declined comments.